WASHINGTON – The bipartisan House Ethics Committee on Friday rebuked a prominent Republican lawmaker, Mark Meadows, over his handling of accusations of sexual harassment against his chief of staff.

The ethics panel said in a report that it found it "troubling" that Meadows, who chairs the powerful House Freedom Caucus, did not take prompt action to address complaints by multiple female staffers that senior Meadows aide Kenny West had harassed them in 2015.

Meadows changed West's title, but kept West on his staff for months after learning of the allegation, according to the report. Even after West resigned Meadows continued to pay him for two months and reimbursed his expenses, the report said.

The committee said they accepted Meadows claims that he never intended to break the rules of the House, but he did violate them.

Meadows will be ordered to reimburse the federal government $40,625.02, the money that had gone to West. His spokesman Ben Williamson said Meadows will comply with the order,

"Meadows could have and should have done more to ensure that his congressional office was free from discrimination or the perception of discrimination," the report read.

The committee said that while Meadows "did take some important steps" after learning of the allegations, "he did not do enough to address the allegations or to prevent potential further harassment or retaliation."

Meadows said in a statement that he was "truly sorry for any stress" the situation caused and that making sure his staffers feel safe is his highest priority.

The ethics finding against Meadows reports comes over a year after the #MeToo movement began and multiple members of Congress were forced to leave office or not run for re-election over allegations of harassment.